Latest news with #Oldman
Los Angeles Times
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Queen Camilla is ready for more ‘Slow Horses.' And Gary Oldman is happy to oblige
Sir Gary Oldman — he received a British knighthood in King Charles' June birthday honors list — appears on Zoom at his home in Palm Springs in front of a display of his own black-and-white photographs. 'I do all sorts of photography, but I also do 19th century wet plate,' he says. 'I just like the process. I don't do digital, I do film. I like the developing.' Oldman's been 'doing film' of the silver-screen sort since the 1980s, but the phenomenal global success of London-based spy thriller 'Slow Horses,' which returns for its fifth season on Apple TV+ next month, has changed everything for the Oscar winner (2017's 'Darkest Hour'). Emmy-nominated as lead actor in a drama series for the second consecutive year for his turn as slovenly Jackson Lamb, leader of an out-of-favor group of spies nicknamed the Slow Horses, Oldman could not be more thrilled. In fact, it's virtually impossible to tell whether he's more psyched about 'Slow Horses' or being knighted. Either way, he's full of the joys of his very hot summer. 'Big sky, big mountain and 102 here at the moment,' he beams. He finds L.A. too chilly now. 'I'm thrilled with it,' he grins of his knighthood, 'and no, I wasn't angling for it. I mean, I've done some stuff for charity over the years, and I would like to think I'm a good export, an ambassador of Britain. I have a green card, but I don't have American citizenship. I'm still a British subject.' He's thrilled too about his Emmy nomination, but less enamored of relentless questions about 'how you pull the rabbit out of the hat.' 'Can't it just be a bloody mystery? Why do we have to sort of take it all apart?' he asks. 'I think half of the time I make it up. I don't know, I just do. It's like you have a facility for something. It's like asking a tennis player, 'How do you return the ball?' 'I've just been able to do it since I was 12.' I don't look up videos of Peter O'Toole talking about acting.' Oldman notes he moved to Hollywood 'completely by accident' because he 'wanted to go to the place where they were making films so I could practice.' Film, he did, ad infinitum, particularly enjoying the spy genre in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' which garnered him his first Oscar nomination as lead actor in 2012, long before Jackson Lamb appeared on his radar. It appears 'Slow Horses' might satisfy part of his creative itch for some years to come. Season 6 is already in the can, and Season 7 is due to start filming this fall. 'It is something I could just do. Can I see an end? I don't know,' he says. 'I love the people and the show and the character. But it's nothing to do with that. Apple write the checks and have been generous in their check-writing. I mean, how do you feel? Do you think people would eventually just get fed up with it?' I demur, along with members of the British royal family apparently. 'The Queen [Camilla] said to me, 'Are there any more?' I'm led to believe that they like 'Slow Horses.' And in Palm Springs of all places, I'll go to the hardware store or the supermarket and people will come up to me and say, 'When's 'Slow Horses' coming back?'' His facility for the simple stuff does, however, fail him occasionally. 'Yes, suddenly you can't walk in a room. Or get out of a car. I've walked into a room my entire life. I've got out of so many cars I couldn't count and now, yeah, even just raising a cup. It's the funniest thing, it will trip you up.' To date, he has not forgotten how to eat, which is fortunate given Lamb's gargantuan appetite and Oldman's impatience with eating scenes where actors push their food around. 'I remember the noodles scene in Season 2, and you know Lamb is an eater; I'm always eating in the show, and you can't fake it. So one morning I ate 17 or 18 bowls of noodles and then it was, 'OK, we're gonna break for lunch, can I get you anything?'' Oldman's most recent 'charity work' was his pro bono four-week run this spring of Samuel Beckett's one-man play 'Krapp's Last Tape' at York Theatre Royal, scene of his professional stage debut in 1979 and his first U.K. stage appearance in 37 years. 'I kind of got kidnapped by film and with all the other life experiences — kids, divorce, marriage, divorce, sobriety,' he says. 'You turn around and think, 'When did I last do a play?' And I thought, 'I'd really like to do it, let me put my toe back in the water.'' He wondered, 'Well, will anyone come? Is anyone interested? I was worried whether we'd fill 700 or 800 seats, and then the day they announced the tickets, their computer crashed.' There's that huge smile again, one suggesting he still can't quite believe it. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't waste time worrying too much about his place in the Hollywood pantheon. 'Maybe there are people somewhere in an executive office sitting around saying, 'What about Gary Oldman for this role?' and 'No, he's unavailable because he's doing the show.' But I like what 'Slow Horses' has afforded me over the last few years. I get some downtime, I got to do theater, I've got my photography and other things, rather than thinking about this or that film and 'they want you but they don't know if they can go this year.' 'I feel so privileged, so bloody lucky that at 67 years old, I'm in a show of this caliber, that people have really actually embraced. I'm so very, very blessed, and it's also nice to know that you're going to be working. Yeah, it's nice to be in regular employment.'
Boston Globe
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
‘Slow Horses' hasn't premiered season 5 yet, but it's already been renewed for season 7
Superspies like Advertisement The early renewal is a sign of confidence from the streamer; the show has proved a hit with critics, earning a slew of award nominations and an Emmy win for the show's writing (possibly Apple will keep renewing it until Oldman gets his own Emmy). It's now proving to be one of the network's longest-tenured programs, matching early winners like ' Advertisement Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at
RTÉ News
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Slow Horses renewed for seventh season
Hit series Slow Horses has received the green light for a seventh season, it has been announced. The Apple TV+ spy drama will return with a six-episode season, starring Gary Oldman as British intelligence officer Jackson Lamb. The show is based on British writer Mick Herron's Slough House book series, which follows a dysfunctional team of intelligence agents who ended up in an MI5 "dumping ground" department at Slough House after they made career-ending mistakes. The news comes after season six was announced last year and ahead of the release of season five, which is due to come out in September. The seventh season will be adapted from the novel Best Actors, which follows Lamb and his team as they seek to neutralise a mole at the heart of the British Government before they can bring down the state. The seventh season will be produced by Ben Vanstone with Robert McKillop, best known for Ludwig, as director. The show premiered in 2022 with Oldman starring alongside Jack Lowden as agent River Cartwright and Kristin Scott Thomas as Diana Taverner. The Two Popes star Jonathan Pryce also appeared in the series as recurring character, retired British senior intelligence official David Cartwright. The award-winning series won a Bafta in 2024 for Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series while Oldman was recognised with Golden Globe, Emmy and Bafta nominations for his portrayal of Lamb. The London-born Oscar-winner is known for his versatile acting style having portrayed a range of figures, from former prime minister Winston Churchill to Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious.
Time of India
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Gary Oldman says he was tired of being 'poster boy for rent-a-villain'
Picture Credit: X Hollywood star Gary Oldman is magical whenever he essays a role. Who could forget his chilling portrayal of the antagonist in 'Leon: The Professional'? However, the actor got tired of playing the villain after a point. While discussing his performance as Dr. Zachary Smith in 'Lost in Space', the actor said there was a point in his career where he was the go-to for casting directors who needed a bad guy, reports 'Variety'. He told 'Variety', "I got sort of typecast for a while. I became kind of like the poster boy for the 'rent-a-villain'. Sort of, 'Oh, we need a villain and we'll get Gary'. I don't know how that happened, but it happened. And it was fun for a while, but eventually, I just put a stop to it. It got a little old. But they are fun to play". Oldman went on to compare the character of Dr. Zachary Smith to another one of his iconic villain roles, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg from 'The Fifth Element'. "This particularly, like 'The Fifth Element,' much like 'Lost in Space,' they're comic villains", he explained. "('Lost in Space') was fun, great cast. I thought the story, it was a lot to put in. It was a lot of movie in two hours. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Buy Brass Idols - Handmade Brass Statues for Home & Gifting Luxeartisanship Buy Now Undo But (Dr. Zachary Smith) was fun to play because it's a villain with a tongue in the cheek or a little twinkle in the eye (sic)". As per 'Variety', One of Oldman's first major switches from villain to hero was when he joined Christopher Nolan 's 'Batman' trilogy as Commissioner Gordon. David S. Goyer, who wrote 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' for Nolan, recently recalled on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast that he was "very surprised" to hear Oldman had landed the role, given his villain status. David said, "Now that I'm a more experienced filmmaker, I realized that it's really exciting to cast against type. It's exciting for filmmakers, and it's also exciting for the actors".
Hans India
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Gary Oldman says he was tired of being ‘poster boy for rent-a-villain'
Los Angeles: Hollywood star Gary Oldman is magical whenever he essays a role. Who could forget his chilling portrayal of the antagonist in 'Leon: The Professional'? However, the actor got tired of playing the villain after a point. While discussing his performance as Dr. Zachary Smith in 'Lost in Space', the actor said there was a point in his career where he was the go-to for casting directors who needed a bad guy, reports 'Variety'. He told 'Variety', 'I got sort of typecast for a while. I became kind of like the poster boy for the 'rent-a-villain'. Sort of, 'Oh, we need a villain and we'll get Gary'. I don't know how that happened, but it happened. And it was fun for a while, but eventually, I just put a stop to it. It got a little old. But they are fun to play'. Oldman went on to compare the character of Dr. Zachary Smith to another one of his iconic villain roles, Jean-Baptiste Emanuel Zorg from 'The Fifth Element'. 'This particularly, like 'The Fifth Element,' much like 'Lost in Space,' they're comic villains', he explained. '('Lost in Space') was fun, great cast. I thought the story, it was a lot to put in. It was a lot of movie in two hours. But (Dr. Zachary Smith) was fun to play because it's a villain with a tongue in the cheek or a little twinkle in the eye (sic)'. As per 'Variety', One of Oldman's first major switches from villain to hero was when he joined Christopher Nolan's 'Batman' trilogy as Commissioner Gordon. David S. Goyer, who wrote 'Batman Begins' and 'The Dark Knight' for Nolan, recently recalled on the 'Happy Sad Confused' podcast that he was 'very surprised' to hear Oldman had landed the role, given his villain status. David said, 'Now that I'm a more experienced filmmaker, I realized that it's really exciting to cast against type. It's exciting for filmmakers, and it's also exciting for the actors'.
